I Love My Gumball Machine Capsules! The Destiny of Things, Story 156

I Love My Gumball Machine Capsules!  The Destiny of Things, Story 156

and I'm not the only one!

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy, empty gumball prize capsules available here or here

A few simple words and it's a story for me with another memory!  Here it is:

Izzy from Etsy shop, IzzySkully uses them to ship her creative rings to customers!  

I've loved these since childhood and I'm quite certain as a recovering hoarder I'm over compensating because as a child we weren't allowed to spend our allowance on gumball machines or the fun little dime or quarter rides we used to see outside stores! 

I would covet those rides outside stores, like the mini merry go round that moved ever too slowly, but I didn't care, I still wanted to ride it!  The pony that went back and forth or the car that jiggled, even the rocket ship that went up and down.  The kids that I saw ride them looked ever so happy! And I was always bewildered as to why I couldn't spend my allowance on them or a gumball prize!

 photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy, more vending machine containers available here or here

  

Anyways, my gumball containers are part of an ever evolving on going art project because I LOVE everything gumball but the gumballs!  I love the gumball capsules, the corny kitsch gumball prizes to choose from and even the gumball machines!  However, so far, I only have one gumball machine....and it was actually my brother's from our high school thrifting days.

It's an old penny gumball machine for gumballs.  I used to keep a stash of peanut M&M's in it, it's a good way to cut down on candy intake, even with a bowl of pennies next to it!, but now I keep some of my childhood prized possessions in it.  

Inside each gumball capsule and or diamond boxes holds something, like my all time favorite Victorian ring my Mom used to wear and gave to me for one of my birthdays.  My Mom tried to have it remade for my birthday, but the jeweler said it was too old, so she gave it to me.  It has an oval opal flanked by two round emeralds surrounded by six seed pearls.

I wore it a lot during the 80s when I wore Victorian, Edwardian and flapper clothes I found thrifting with this bar pin, available here.  Too bad I didn't save any clothes from that era or the LV steamer trunk I kept it all in.

photo via Hoarder Rehab, collar bar pin available here

Also my old trusty childhood hopscotch bracelet that I could throw like a master and win in one swoop of a turn.  Also, my childhood ID bracelet, remember those?  With your name, address and phone number with the flag engraved one side.

My gold key souvenir from Japan I stopped wearing to clubs because I would get strange invites to the bathroom from women wanting to share their drugs or men hitting on me with drug offers.  I finally asked one of my friends why this keeps happening to me and she said, "that key is opening all the wrong doors or it may look like a spoon!" hahaha, we both had a good laugh and sadly, I never wore it again.

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy, I use these for my art and gumball project, available here

Okay, so that's how I reconnected with gumball machine capsules and it's really turning into a stroll down memory lane.... Here's my one last story about them.

So it wasn't until I was in college until I met up with a gumball machine again and it was somewhere at Venice Beach.  I put my quarter in, listened to the cranks turn and when the capsule hit my heart lept and I flipped up the little door and guess what plopped into my hand?  You'll never guess...

A tiny plastic ear with blood painted on it!  My brother couldn't stop laughing!  I was confounded!  And he said, "you must be the only person I know who would get Van Gogh's ear as a prize!"

Here's how I use them now...

I've made these 80s gumball prize necklaces and like Izzy, when one sells I mail them inside a gumball capsule to continue the theme!  I've forgotten about them until now....

  photo via The Destiny of Things, gumball prize necklace available here

I made the necklaces above during one of my 4 hour project days because usually I spend weeks on projects that take up a lot of space because I like to spread out play, usually the floor and I tend to leave things out because I like to let my projects sleep or rest, so I wasn't making much of anything when another Etsyian inspired me with something she said and it reminded me of my teaching art in the classroom.

Teaching art to children, not only includes a lesson plan with objectives and such, but the planning includes, materials, set up and clean up time, so I basically started using my lesson plans on myself to complete 4 hour art day projects, instead of winging it til kingdom come!

The necklaces are made with World War 2 era surgical thread, vintage beads some from my childhood and 80s to 90s prize toys from fairs, carnivals and gumball machines and will ship to you in a gumball capsule!

  photo via The Destiny of Things, gumball prize necklace available here

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy, empty gumball prize capsules available here or here

Saying Goodbye:  Now that I know why I've reconnected with gumball capsules, maybe I'll just end up with one piece of art using a gumball machine and capsules.  Only time will tell.

What I Learned:

1.  Everything is connected and connected to me and my hoard some how, whether it be memories, childhood confusion that later turned to regret, future dreams, even worries.

I remember teaching my students a lesson on ecosystems.  Everyone picked an essential part of an ecosystem out of a hat and we all took hold of one continuous piece of string and we all moved about doing our own perceived thing according to what we chose until we were entangled and enmeshed.

Than an outsider, usually me or a teacher's aide went around collecting all the pieces of paper and we put them back into the hat and one by one chose an essential part of the ecosystem out again and whoever was acting out that piece dropped their part of the string and we slowly watched as the ecosystem collapsed.

Is that what is going to happen to my hoard?  Are all these stories going to connect and disconnect and my hoarding habits will be changed into something new?

Thank you Izzy from Etsy shop, IzzySkully for allowing me to use your "behind the purchase" story.  It helped me to remember mine and made me mindful to return to my 4Hour art project days!  Thank you so much because I really need my art projects days as an alternative, instead of spending my time with my hoarding habits!

Visit Izzy and her Etsy shop, IzzySkully.  Her jewelry creations are a blend of vintage and new and show her own sense of style! I love it!  Go exploring for rings here or I'll start you off with her thousand eye snake skin ring here and her beautiful natural rock point druizy here!

Thank you Etsy for giving me an outlet for my hoard, art and listings that support my art!  It's been a slow and tedious journey with forward and backward movement, but it's definitely improved my life with a deliberate consciousness!  Thank you!

Thank you US, Aruba, Columbia, Guatemala, Mexico, Poland, Ukraine, Hong Kong, UK, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Denmark and others who have visited this past weekend to support my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!  

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab,  The Destiny of Things, VintageToGoEasy and now JunkDrawerLove!  There are about 105 items listed on JunkDrawerLove and relistings to each shops daily and adding new listings weekly to all shops too!  Thanks for looking!

Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

Related Stories:  

1.  Small vintage 80s Taiwan erasers that fit in the gumball capsules, read about it here!

2.  Toothy Tooth Lockets that fit inside the gumball capsules, read about it here

“It's never too late to have a happy childhood."  ---Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker.  His "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" was one of my favorite college novels.